The spinal cord is made up of nerve fibers. Damage to the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, results in a loss of function. The most common types of spinal cord injuries (SCI) include contusions (bruising of the spinal cord) and compression injuries (caused by prolonged pressure on the spinal cord). After a spinal cord injury in the adult mammal, the inability of axons to regenerate may lead to loss of sensation, loss of motor function and/or loss of autonomic function, as well as permanent paralysis. One reason that neurons fail to regenerate is their inability to traverse the glial scar that develops following a spinal cord injury. The injury-induced lesion will develop glial scarring, which contains extracellular matrix molecules including chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs). CSPGs inhibit nerve tissue growth in vitro and nerve tissue regeneration at CSPGs rich regions in vivo. CSPGs are implicated in various other conditions including, for example, inflammation.